What is a Trademark Worth?

Adidas, registered trademark owner of the three stripes design, has won a trademark infringement lawsuit against Collective Brands Inc., the operator of Payless and Stride Rite shoe stores.  The verdict: $305 million dollars.  While years of marketing, brand protection, and consumer advertising undoubtedly contributed to the strength of the trademark, it all started with the trademark being registered with the USPTO (and in other countries).  You can see an example of the three stripes here.  By investing in its trademarks and other intellectual property, Adidas positioned itself to protect against the unauthorized use of its trademarks, and more importantly pursue those infringers.  The result is monetary damages and a strengthened trademark.  This verdict confirms that a trademark has tremendous value to an organization.  The proper investment should be made in order to ensure you have performed a proper trademark availability search when selecting a trademark, registered your trademark upon selecting it, continuously used the trademark in a proper manner, and taken efforts to protect it by preventing unauthorized use of the trademark.  Contact us today for all matters relating to your trademark.